Desolate Soul
by DarkFlameJ
Summary: After returning from the daring rescue mission at the Boiling Rock Prison, Zuko is acting strange. Will his new friends find out what is wrong before it is too late? *Warning: Mention and discussion of injuries in (somewhat) detail*


Zuko didn't even think to mention that there was a piece of metal embedded in his stomach right above his left hip. Well, he did consider it but he came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't a good idea since the only healer of the group was Katara, who hated him. Everyone had looked so happy when he and Sokka returned from the Boiling Rock with Hakoda, Suki, and the others. He just stayed out of direct line of sight, but close enough that no one noticed his absence. Although no one would probably notice he was missing any way.

That night after dinner, Zuko made tea for everyone, he tried to remember everything Uncle had taught him, he now regretted not paying much attention. He tried to tell one of Uncle's jokes as he passed out the tea. Everyone ended up laughing at him instead of the joke. Even Sokka looked at him as if he was slow after that. While passing out the tea his side flared up in pain, reminding him of the shrapnel lodged there.

He sat down on the outskirts of the circle, falling the last few inches to the ground, landing with a soft thump. Zuko didn't participate much in the conversation, but one of the group noticed and drew him back into the conversation. Zuko could have rolled his eyes, but he refrained, it was such a dad thing to do.

"So, Prince Zuko, how did you come by your scar? I've heard many different rumors throughout my travels," Hakoda asked, his bright blue eyes seemingly staring straight through Zuko.

He shuffled a bit closer to the group, eyes down, "rumors huh? What do people think happened?"

"Well you probably know how people like to gossip. One person said you had the scar from birth. Another that you were in a training accident. Then someone also thought that you fell into a volcano and just your face got burned," Hakoda looked off into the distance stroking his chin thoughtfully, "Though that last one I find kind of hard to believe."

Zuko let out a slight chuckle, barely able to be considered amusement, "no, I wasn't born with it, I'm not stupid enough to fall into a volcano," he glared at Katara when she scoffed at that statement, but he continued, "and it certainly wasn't an accident. My _father_ burned me to teach me a lesson. A permanent one."

Hakoda looked at him in shock, glanced over a Sokka and then back. The chief couldn't even begin to understand how a father could do that to his own son. What could possibly be that important? Zuko stood and started to walk away, unable to look at the pitying expressions of the group, the he paused and said over his shoulder, "I'm not a prince anymore, I would rather you just call me Zuko."

Then he left, his dark clothes melding into the shadows of the abandoned temple. The Air Nomads former home was just as empty as Zuko felt. Desolate, with the exception of a few most likely temporary residents.

Back at the fire Hakoda hung his head, "I didn't think that anyone could be that cruel, not even the Firelord."

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for him, he has tried to kill us and capture Aang many times," Katara stated accusingly.

Hakoda fixed her with a hard look, "did you ever consider why he was chasing you? What was one of the things I told you two as kids?"

"There are two sides to every story and just because you have one doesn't mean that the other is wrong," Sokka interrupted solemnly, "Zuko said on the way to the Boiling Rock that he had thought he was doing the right thing by trying to catch Aang. Then when he was home he realized that it wasn't and that he didn't really feel like he belonged there anymore. He just wanted his father to love him again and let him come back. I think he came to find us to make up for everything bad he's done. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to turn his back on everything he had fought for in his life."

Katara looked into the fire for a few moments, deep in thought, "I think you're right. I never even thought to think of why he was doing everything that he was."

Aang spoke up for the first time, "Katara you have been really mean to him since he got here. Maybe you should go apologize to him. He did just save your father and Suki from a Fire Nation prison."

"Ever the wisdomous avatar," Sokka joked, stroking an imaginary beard sagely.

Katara sighed, but stood, "I guess you are right. Thank you Dad, thank you Aang."

~...~

Zuko sat on the edge of the platform where the Airbenders used to practice techniques on. His boots dangling over the valley, swaying slightly in the warm breeze. He stared up at the moon and stars trying to calm the pain in his abdomen. He would have to remove the metal piece after everyone had gone to sleep. With a sigh he rose from his position on the edge and turned, nearly ramming into Katara who had been approaching quietly.

He let out a short shout of surprise, jumping slightly causing the Water Tribe girl to jump as well. Katara was quick to speak, "AH! Zuko! I'm sorry I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that. I was just coming to talk to you."

He crossed his arms defensively, but loosely, "what, do you want to make fun of me again?"

"Wh- no, that's not why I came to talk to you. I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I've been really mean to you since you joined our team and I know now that I shouldn't have been," she explained quickly.

Zuko squinted at the girl, "I don't get it.'

Katara tilted her head slightly, "what don't you get, I'm trying to be nice to you. What is hard to understand about that?"

He shook his head, his black hair falling across his face, "no one is nice to me," he started to leave, "I'll see you in the morning and thank you."

She just watched the teen as he disappeared into the darkness for the second time that night. What she didn't see was the slight smile that held on his lips for a moment before he shook his head as a dark thought crossed his mind and he scowled again.

~...~

Near midnight, everyone was asleep in their sleeping bags in the circle around the fire when Zuko suddenly jerked awake. His hand flew to the injury in his side and his hand felt the sticky wetness of blood. He cursed in his head and quietly stood. The injured firebender found a spot in the temple far away from the group, well lit by the full moon above.

Pulling off his shirt he let out a gasp at the sharp pain caused by the action. He sat with his back leaning against the stone wall. The shrapnel protruding from his side had shifted causing it to bleed more. It was slowly oozing the dark red liquid now. He knew that he had to get it out, he just really didn't want to.

Stealing himself he got a firm grasp on the metal and at first tried to gently ease it out, but it didn't budge as his vision swam at the pain. He sucked in a deep breath and yanked the shrapnel out. A harsh grunt left him and his vision went black. The firebender blinked rapidly trying to regain his sight so he could see how bad it was, pressing his hand to the injury he felt his blood pumping out at an alarming rate. He pressed his hand tightly to the wound while his eyesight cleared.

Finally able to see again he realized that the blood pouring out of the wound was bright red. Of course he just had to puncture an artery didn't he? He knew he had to stop the bleeding, but putting pressure on it wasn't working. He thought frantically, his thoughts landing on a first aid lesson from long ago.

Ten year old Zuko in a classroom. "Does anyone know how General Ikaron survived from his wound all by himself," The teacher asked, receiving only blank looks from the class.

"Well, General Ikaron was all alone on the battlefield, the only survivor, an arrow had gone through his leg and he was bleeding out. But the fearless general used his firebending to close the wound and stop the bleeding. This should never be the first attempt at stopping a bleeding wound, but when all else fails it might be preferable to dying…"

The memory faded and he knew what he had to do. Sliding off his belt he doubled it up and put it between his teeth so he wouldn't hurt himself. Then he summoned a small fireball in his palm. Without hesitation he bent the fire into the wound, clamping his hand onto the surface of the wound. His mouth fell open in a gasp at the initial pain. The belt fell from his mouth, but he couldn't stop now. It was taking all of his concentration to just keep the fire burning so it could do its work. A second wave of pain crashed into him, ripping a scream from his throat. The scorching of his fire felt like it was burning his insides, which essentially it was. He couldn't take it anymore and as soon as he stopped firebending he also lost consciousness. Zuko's body slumped against the stone wall. The bleeding had stopped, but not before he had lost significant amounts of blood.

~...~

A scream of pain shattered the peaceful sleep of the group. Sokka and Hakoda were the first to leap from their sleeping bags with their weapons at the ready. Followed only a half second by Aang and the rest of the group.

"What was that?" Toph asked.

"Where's Zuko?" Sokka asked nearly at the same time.

Hakoda tightened his grip on his machete, "We need to go find him, it could have been some wild animal, or it could have been the Fire Nation. Split up in pairs, we will cover more ground that way. Haru and Teo stay here in case Zuko comes back."

Everyone split up, Sokka and Hakoda, Katara and Toph, Aang and Suki. They searched the maze-like temple for hours but no one could find Zuko. It was nearly midday, a full twelve hours since the scream had woken them and they still hadn't found the firebender. Regrouping by the sleeping area, they started to devise plans for continuing to search for the scarred teen.

Before they had much of a chance to plan much, the subject of their worry appeared. Walking, relatively, calmly towards the group in a facade of nonchalance. Casual, as if he hadn't been missing for over half of a day. As he got closer they could tell he was far more pale than he usually was and his eyes did not hold the same sharpness they held the day prior.

Sokka ran up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Zuko! Where have you been?"

The black haired teen shrugged, "I just went for a walk this morning. What is everyone talking about?"

"Zuko you have been missing since the middle of last night. We went looking for you when we were all woken up by a scream. Are you ok," Sokka continued.

"Oh yeah I'm fine, but I didn't hear any scream last night," his voice was getting quieter and quieter as he continued to speak. Near the end it was hard to even tell what he was saying.

The former prince blinked rapidly starting to sway slightly, "Sokka did you do something to your hair, you look different today."

"His heartbeat is slowing down really fast, somebody might want to catch him," Toph stated just a moment before Zuko's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward.

Luckily Sokka was right there to catch him as he fell, laying him on his back he looked the teen up and down to see what had caused him to black out. He quickly found that the lower part of his shirt was covered in blood, although at a glance it was hard to tell because the shirt itself was red.

Hakoda, on Zuko's other side, helped Sokka remove the shirt and they saw the angry red wound. The Water Tribe boy looked up at his father in confusion, "I don't get it, the puncture wound isn't even bleeding and there are no stitches."

The Chief looked over at his son, slight horror in his eyes, "he cauterized it. Using his own bending by the looks of it. I would not be surprised if that is where the scream came from last night."

Sokka held Zuko's head in his lap while he kneeled on the ground, "Katara! Come quick! Zuko needs help."

She walked over at a hurried pace, "What happened?"

The boys quickly explained all that they knew and as they did that she used her bending to start to heal the firebender's wound. She worked diligently, "this is deep. It cut into one of his arteries. There us a lot of scarring already, he really did burn himself."

After a half hour of Katara's bending healing, she declared that he would be alright, but he needed rest. Aang led them to one of the many bedrooms in the temple. Hakoda carried the teen in his arms. One would think it would have been awkward since they are about the same height, but the father had no problem carrying the boy. He laid him gently on the bed and turned to Katara just as she started to speak, "if he was injured, why didn't he come to me for help? I'm the healer."

"Maybe it had something to do with how rude you are to him on a daily basis. He probably thought you would hurt him instead of healing him," Sokka said in a nonchalant way, "I'm just wondering how he left it for so long. That had to be extremely painful."

"We just need to wait for him to wake up now," Hakoda stated, "someone should stay with him in case something happens."

"I will," Sokka blurted only a second after his father had stopped talking.

The other two water tribe members nodded and left the room. Sokka pulled a chair up to the bed and leaned back, propping his feet up on the edge of the bed. He began to drone on and on about some of the things he had done when he was a kid. Sokka knew that the other boy couldn't hear him, but it calmed him to just talk to someone. He rambled on and on as the older teen slept. Sokka could talk for hours and he did.

In fact, two hours later Sokka was having a full on vent session. He just stared at the ceiling and yammered on, "and did anyone listen when I said Jet was a traitor? Noooo. They never listen to me. I try to help, but no one cares because I'm the only non bender. If I'm not the plan and reason guy, I literally have no purpose. I really wish I could bend like you guys. Then I could help. I would be a wicked firebender. You could teach me the moves. I guess I just get to be the boomerang guy from the Southern Water Tribe. Sword too, Master Piandao taught me about sword fighting. He was my master for a few days so he could teach me, just like how Katara and Aang found a master to teach them in the North Pole. Maybe we can practice sword fighting techniques sometime together-"

"That would be nice," the sudden voice made Sokka fall backwards from his reclined position on the chair.

"Zuko! You're awake!" Sokka exclaimed, his head popped over the edge of the mattress the former prince was resting on.

"Yeah, I am," the scarred teen's voice was relaxed and smooth, it was the first time Sokka had ever seen him so calm. Zuko constantly looked like he was expecting a fight at any second, but right now he looked peaceful. His golden eyes met blue ones.

Sokka suddenly lurched forward and practically smothered Zuko in a hug. Zuko tensed up, but after a moment he relaxed and placed a hand on Sokka's back accepting the hug.

When Sokka released him, he pointed a finger accusingly at the pale boy, "don't you ever do that to me again. You hear me?"

Zuko sheepishly nodded. Sokka sat back down with a slight huff not looking at the boy. After a minute of silence he peaked back over and saw Zuko was watching him with a slight smile, "I'm glad you are going to be ok, buddy."


End file.
